Pained
by Quite the Spoon
Summary: Ron musters up the courage to confess his feelings to Hermione, and she reacts unexpectedly. What happens to their relationship afterward? Ron/Hermione.
1. Prologue

_A/N & Disclaimer: This is a One-Shot Ron/Hermione fluff. I would appreciate it if you reviewed, but it is not voluntary. Now that I've said that, I must also say that I am not in any way what so ever affiliated with J.K. Rowling and no copyright infringement is intended._

"'Mione?" the redheaded male called out to the only other person in the room- a rather small girl (at least compared to him) with long, curly, brown hair who was equally beautiful in her own way.

She was sitting across the room in one of the giant arm chairs in the Gryffindor common room. Her sweater snugged up perfectly to her body.

_How I wish I were that sweater. _Ron thought.

"Yes, Ronald?" She asked, not looking away from the thick book in her hands. He adored that about her; always studying.

"There's... something I have to tell you. Something I've had to tell you for quite a while."

"Go ahead, I'm listening," Hermione said peering over her book to look at him, giving him a warm smile to ensure that she cared about what he had to say.

He could feel his ears grow hot as he quickly searched for the right words to say.

"I... love you," he finally shot, his entire face now red.

Her eyes widened before she rolled her eyes and went back to her book, tossing his confession off to the side as if it were nothing, as if she only viewed them as friends and nothing more. Which pained him.

"Don't be silly, Ronald." And that was the all said said for the rest of the night.

Ron's reaction was quite the opposite. He was horrified that he had mustered up the courage to say that, and even more horrified of the way she had reacted. And deep down inside he was hurting- he was hurting badly.

But he would never let it show.

She would never know.

And they would continue living their life as if this conversation hadn't happened.


	2. Thoughts

_A/N & Disclaimer: This was originally a one-shot Ron/Hermione fluff, but upon request—and simply because I felt the desire and compulsion to—I have decided to create this into an actual story rather than a wimpy little fluffling. I am not affiliated with J.K. Rowling and no copyright infringement is intended. _

It had been weeks since the "incident" in the Common Room. Neither Ron nor Hermione ever spoke to it about anyone, nor to each other. However, it was constantly running through Hermione's thoughts.

Some days she'd be down and wonder why in the world she said what she _usually_ said to Ron (like when he'd beg her to do an essay for him, and she would end up caving in because she couldn't resist his baby-like face when he pouted) instead of what she actually wanted to say.

However, there would be other days that she would be glad that she said what she had. Her mind was like a roller coaster, and her feelings for Ron were at the control panel.

One average day, Hermione found herself sitting absentmindedly in Transfiguration, Ron on her left and Harry behind him. It only took Ron one glance at Hermione to read her like a book, which meant he could tell something was up. Hermione of course, didn't notice him looking at her since she was so entirely spaced out.

Ron shifted in his seat, now uncomfortable from knowing that something was wrong. Usually, she'd be taking noted or staring down Professor McGonagall, storing every word she said into the personal library that was Hermione's brain. But she wasn't doing either. She was sitting at her desk, leaned back slightly into her chair with one arm on her desk and the other draped across her lap. Her eyes, though facing the front of the room, were clearly not focusing on the lesson and it wasn't fooling Ron.

Ronald's head spun with ideas of what could have possibly been wrong, and before he knew it, the class had been dismissed.

Hermione was slowly gathering her things as she stood at the edge of her seat, and Ron hovered behind, waiting for her do head out of the classroom. When she did, he pulled her over to the side of the corridor after waving Harry off. Hermione was slightly shocked, but stood there anyway. And the two did stand. There was no telling how long they had been standing there, but they both remained as still as statues.

It was Ron who was the first to speak, breaking the deafening silence that surrounded them.

"What's going on, 'Mione? You weren't yourself at all in there." His tone was low and soft, but just loud enough for her to hear it. Luckily she knew exactly what he meant, too.

"I..." She began but decided against it. "It's nothing, Ronald. I'm fine. I just feel a bit off." She forced a smile to try to convince him that what she was saying was honest, but he didn't go for it.

"Oh come on!" Ron protested. "You can tell me anything, you know that. I'm always here when you need someone to talk to."

"Except girl problems," she corrected.

Ron stayed quiet for a while and Hermione spoke again after a while.

"And it _is_ girl problems, so don't worry about it. I'll be fine. I _am_ fine."

Then she dismissed herself from the conversation—walking towards the Great Hall for lunch—and left a bemused redhead standing in the corridor, staring after her and not knowing what to do.

_A/N: It's been a while since I've written, so do expect me to be a bit rusty. But feel free to review and let me know what you'd like to see happen so I could gather a few more ideas. (: _


End file.
